What is Spiritual Direction?

• Spiritual Direction is listening, reflecting, and creating a safe space for another person. It is companioning with someone on their journey with God and helping them see where God is already working in their lives' mundane and sometimes spectacular events.

• In spiritual direction, the Spiritual Director has the gift of creating sacred space for another to discover how they can live fully alive, or as Jesus puts it, how to live an abundant life.

• Benner speaks to the human condition when he says, "…we are alarmingly capable of being less than fully human." [2]  We are all, without voices, influences, friendships, and companions, capable of being less than who we were meant to be. The "why" of spiritual direction is that we, as people, need help to become aware of who we truly are and who we are called to be.

[2]  Benner, Soulful Spirituality, 27.

What is Pastoral Counseling?

• Similar to Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling also aims to create a safe space for a client.

• There is a companioning piece, but pastoral care is focused on a problem or an issue that a client is wanting to work on. This can be relational, emotional, or spiriutal. (Or usually all of them together!)

• This is not regular counseling, as I am a pastor and not a certified counselor. Sessions will be Jesus-focused, with inner healing and discipleship. There will be prayer through things that are brought up, as I believe the most change occurs when someone encounters Jesus, not just me!

• The goal is the same in both Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Care: that the client would discover how they can live fully alive in light of what Jesus has already done for them.

Testimonial

“Working with Amy has been the most amazing blessing in my life. To find a counselor that walks you through the steps of healing from the inside out with Christ remaining the guide through every session is so rare to find. From coming to my first session with unanswered questions and so many wounds, I am now in a place of deep resounding healing for the first time in my life! Taking that first step towards counseling can be challenging at first and maybe even daunting but it is so worth that first step, especially in this beautiful environment Amy has created.”

Jenae A